Essar commissions Rs 6,000 crore Odisha plant

The complex comprises an iron ore beneficiation facility at Dabuna in Keonjhar district, a 6 million tonne per annum (MTPA) pellet plant at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district and a 253-km-long slurry pipe line with 12 million tonne carrying capacity connecting the two plants.

Essar Steel on Thursday commissioned an integrated pellet complex in Odisha with an investment of Rs 6,000 crore.

The complex comprises an iron ore beneficiation facility at Dabuna in Keonjhar district, a 6 million tonne per annum (MTPA) pellet plant at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district and a 253-km-long slurry pipe line with 12 million tonne carrying capacity connecting the two plants.

“With the commissioning of the complex, Essar Steel has become the largest pellet producer in the country with an annual pellet production capacity of 14 MTPA,” Rajendra Mittal, chief operating officer, Essar Steel Odisha, said.

The company said that it chose Odisha as it has been the largest producer of iron ore in the country. Essar claimed that it will become the world’s third largest pellet producer once its 7 MTPA pellet plant in Minnesota, USA becomes operational by the second half of next year.

Mittal said the Odisha pellet complex was backed by infrastructure that included a 120 mega watt power plant by Essar Power and a captive berth at Paradip Port set up by Essar Port. He added a further 6 MTPA pellet plant at Paradip was scheduled to be commissioned soon.

Pellets are a critical raw material for making iron and find usage across all iron making processes including smelting and direct reduction of iron ore.

“We are happy that we have commissioned the pellet facility, capable of using low grade iron ore fines to produce value added product, a critical input for iron/steel making,” said Mittal.

In his message on the occasion, Essar’s chairman Shashi Ruia said: “The way this state-of-the-art complex has been designed puts maximum emphasis on achieving our goals in Odisha. It is a matter of pride that Indian engineers delivered this challenging project keeping a balance between growth and sustainability.”